[MikeWaters]

Here in Dallas all of the sudden our plate is full.

Sending hundreds of volunteers to Louisiana and Mississippi for weekend work crews. In our ward that is happening this weekend.

And now the church has committed hundreds of volunteers to work in the Red Cross shelters. I went to the training tonight, there were 400 people there, from mutiple stakes.

Only one part bugs me: this notion that we are the best and doing things that other churches aren't doing much. When in fact it was other churches who were organized in the beginning and took the initiative to get things done. Our stake president said, "in the newspaper a woman was quoted as saying only two churches have done a good job: 'the latter-day saints and the Mormons.'" Chuckles all around.

The problem is that WE DON'T EVEN REALIZE how uninvolved and non-contributory we are, in many respects.

Pride, pride, pride.

Our ward will struggle to fill our assignments. We need 15 men to go to Louisiana, and perhaps 16 adults or so to work in the shelters (including graveyard shift). In a ward with avg. EQ attendance of 15.